Synopsis from Goodreads: Don't look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them.That is Ethan Chase's unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs—including his reputation—begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the rules to protect his family. To save a girl he never thought he'd dare to fall for.Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister's world—the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a land of myth and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten.

Do you know that feeling when you're writing a review about a book you absolutely loved and you just don't know where to begin? So maybe I should begin with saying: I LOVED THIS BOOK!Yeah, that's right, this is absolutely a book I would recommend to everyone! Only downside is that you kind of have to read The Iron Fey series (and especially Iron's Prophecy). Well, you'll understand more if you have. After reading about this world through Meghan's and Ash's perspective I had to get used to Ethan. But I loved him right away! He's tough and hard, but with good reason. He doesn't want anything to do with his sister's world. But when weird fey start showing up and Todd, a half faery, disappears Ethan knows he must contact his sister to stop this. I loved reading about the characters from The Iron Fey series: Meghan, Ash, Grimalkin, Puck (YAY!) and Keirran. Well, technically Keirran is a new character and he's so cute! But the cutest of them all was Razor. Seriously, I think living with Julie Kagawa is so much fun, because she thinks up the most amazing nicknames! I smiled every time Razor hissed "Bad kitty!" to Grimalkin! But besides the amazing nicknames, Julie is just an awesome author! Just when you think you have it all figured out she gives the story a turn you didn't see coming! Everyone who's read the story knows what I'm talking about. Kenzie's secret? Wow, I did not see that one coming at all! And it made the story even more perfect! My head is filled with all these fan-girling thoughts that just don't make any sense. If you loved The Iron Fey I can only say one thing: Go and read this book!

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Bloggers share what new books (physical or virtual) they got these week. This is the first week that I'm participating! I like getting new books and showing them. So here's my haul for this week!

This week was my last week as an intern at the Dutch publishing house Kluitman. I've had an amazing time there as an editorial intern and I've definitely learned a lot! But, sadly, I had to say goodbey last Thursday. And I got the most amazing gift! Blossom Books (imprint) just published the Dutch version of Shatter Me. I love the Dutch (and American paperback) cover! My colleagues all wrote a personal message in it, so this book is never going to leave my side!

Friday, September 28, 2012

I love reading discussion posts and I finally decided to start my own! So here's my first Thinking About...I wanted to begin with a subject we're all struggling with: the reading slump. When I wasn't reading so much I thought I would never have a reading slump. But now that I'm reading quite a lot I have it once in while and I hate it! Today I share my tips for getting out of it! And if you have tips, please leave them in the comments! I'd love to read and use them. So here we go!

Start another book.Put the book your reading aside and start reading a different book you're certain you'll enjoy.A reread, the next book in a series you love, or a book with an amazing synopsis! I'm a reader that always wants to finish a book before starting the next one. So, for me it was difficult to apply this with my own reading slump, but I have and trust me it works! Reading gets a whole lot more fun after that!

Do something entirely different.

Sometimes I'm just to preoccupied or stressed out to concentrate on a book. It helps me to put my book aside and do something else. A couple of weeks ago I discovered my hobby: hooping! It's a lot of fun and it empties my mind, so there's room for a whole new story. Just choose something that helps you relax, so you can start fresh with your book.

Just start reading. Sometimes I'm sitting behind my computer and I absolutely do not feel like reading. So instead I'm doing stupid stuff like checking twitter every other second. Just sit down and start reading. I did this the other day and before I knew it I was 200 pages further and had finished the book I had been dreading for days!

Make time to read.

Most of the time I can read anywhere anytime. Just put a book in my hands and I'll read. This way I immediately know when I'm in a reading slump, because then I can't read anywhere. I'm like this:

Really annoying! And not only for me, because it drives my boyfriend crazy. In a case like this I put some reading time in my schedule. I make a large pot of tea, sit on the couch (usually my favorite place) and start reading. I make sure I can't be disturbed. Sometimes I just start with a magazine and before you know it you're reading a book again!

Don't let your TBR pile scare you.

Once in a while I get scared if I see my TBR pile. It's so huge! And if I think about all the books I still want to read and not even own, I want to hide. So now I just take it one book at the time. There will be a time when I've read all those amazing books that are waiting on me to read them. For me these are the most helpful. But I'd love to hear your tips! (I know I'm repeating myself, but I'm relatively new to "The Reading Slump" and I want to get rid of it as soon as possible next time!)

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Synopsis from Goodreads: After a bad break up, doesn't every girl want the same things?

* For her ex-boyfriend to stay single forever...* Or maybe emigrate, to a remote, uninhabited island?* Better still, that she'd never met him in the first place!

But what if one of those wishes came true?Tess is heartbroken when Seb breaks up with her and can't help blaming herself. If only she'd done things differently. If only she could make right all her regrets... But she can't. It's over. She has to forget about him. Drunk and upset on New Year's Eve she wishes she'd never met him.But when she wakes up to discover this dream has come true, she realises she has a chance. To do it all over again. And to get it right this time...

When I heard Alexandra Potter was writing a new book I did a little dance! I was so happy! After reading the synopsis I was thrilled! Her last book was such a disappointment, but this sounded good. A friend of mine was so nice to let me borrow her copy. So I dove into the book first thing. And the beginning was really good! But in the end I didn't love it that much anymore.

Tess is heart-broken when her boyfriend dumps her. The story starts on New Year's Eve, a couple weeks after this happened. On the stroke of midnight she throws all the stuff that reminds her of Seb and their relationship into the fire and wishes she had never met him! And her wish comes true.

The idea behind the book is nice. I think we all have those moments in our lives were we just wish people could forget it. Especially in the beginning of the story it's funny. Because as a reader you know what's going on (the synopsis is loud and clear), but Tess doesn't. So she thinks she's going crazy, or that the people around her are pulling a joke on her. When she figures out what's really going on she jumps at the change to start all over again with Seb.

The first few chapters after that were nice, although a bit predictable. Almost immediately it's clear that Seb is just a douche and that Fergus is the sweet guy Tess should actually be dating. I don't mind cliches in Chick Lit, but this was just to obvious. What irritated me the most were the repetitions. They were driving me insane! After you told me once that Fiona's friends have names she can't remember, I get the deal. I don't need to read that every time they make an appearance! OK, I know, I'm exaggerating, but really just mention it once. The ending was real Chick Lit-y. Tess gets what she wants and she's a better person in the end. So that's what made me give this book three stars in the end.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett

Title: The Nightmare Affair

Author: Mindee Arnett

Will be published on: March 5th, 2013 (Tor Teen)

Pages: 352

Synopsis from Goodreads: 16-year-old Dusty Everhart breaks into houses late at night, but not because she’s a criminal. No, she’s a Nightmare. Literally. Dusty is a magical being who feeds on human dreams.

Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother’s infamy is hard enough. But when Dusty sneaks into Eli Booker’s house, things get a whole lot more complicated. He’s hot, which means sitting on his chest and invading his dreams couldn’t get much more embarrassing. But it does. Eli is dreaming of a murder. The setting is Arkwell.

And then it comes true.

Now the Dusty has to follow the clues—both within Eli’s dreams and out of them—to stop the killer before more people turn up dead. And before the killer learns what she’s up to and marks her as the next target.

This synopsis sounds so intriguing! A book about nightmares? Very original! I can't wait to read it.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created by The Broke and the Bookish. Every Tuesday
has another topic and different bloggers give their top ten. I love making
lists, so here's mine for this week!

This week topic is

Top Ten Series I
Haven't Finished

There are so many (good) series and I'm reading quite a few. Most series I start I also finish. So there are only a few I haven't or won't finish. This TTT has two parts. The first books are series I won't finish. The rest are series I still intend to finish, but I have on hold for now.

Series I won't finished

1. House of Night by P.C. and Kristin Cast

I loved Marked. When I finished it I was so happy there would be twelve books in the series. Up until book five I loved this series. And than it started to go downwards really fast. I actually hated Awakened. I don't like giving up on series, so I doubted for a long time if I shouldn't just finish it. But I've made up my mind: I won't read the last books in the series.

2. Wicca by Cate Tiernan

I'd heard so many amazing things about this series I couldn't wait to read it. I didn't like Book of Shadows at all. I love series about witches, but this was not for me. I had a hard time finishing the first book and since the series contains quite a lot of books I decided not to go further with it.

3. Otherkin by Nina Berry

The first book wasn't bad, but not great either. It didn't really make me curious for the second book, so it will probably end here for me.

4. Trylle Trilogy by Amanda Hocking

I couldn't wait to read this series. Even though it was about trolls and that sounded a bit weird I had high expectations. When I started Switched I wanted to punch myself for waiting so long, because it was so good! Unfortunately the second half of the story was as bad as the first half was good. I've heard amazing things about her new series, but I'm not sure if I'll read it.

Series on hold

5. Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble

The first book was very good, but I'm reading series that I think are better. I will finish it, but not any time soon.

6. Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

I read the first book and thought it was amazing, but you really have to get into it and remember a lot of things. So I've decided to read the other books when I really have the time for it.

7. The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod by Heather Brewer

I've read the first two books and liked them, but not so much I can't wait to finish the series. I think I will at some point.

8. War of the Witches by Maite Carranza

Same as with the other series. Liked the first book, but not one of the best series I've read, so it will have to wait on me to finish it.

9. If I Stay by Gayle Forman

I read If I Stay when I wasn't really into contemporary. I liked it, but I never felt like reading the second part. I have it on my shelves so somewhere in the future I'll definitely read it.

10. Wings by Aprilynne Pike

I have read the first two books and I still have to buy the last two. I'm not sure when I will and after that when I'll read them. I liked Wings and Spells and I want to know how it ends, but it can wait a while.

A Witch Alone

I can't wait to read A Witch Alone! The ending of A Witch in Love was a real cliffhanger and I want to know what happens next! I love this cover! Purple and yellow go so well together! This cover makes me even more curious about the story!

Welcome to It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Book Journey. This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well. You never know where that next “must read” book will come from!I had a pretty busy week, so I only managed to finish one book, which is not much for my standards. I hope to catch up with my reading in the upcoming week!

Finished last week:

The Lost Prince (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten #1) by Julie KagawaCurrently reading:

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Synopsis from Goodreads: When Charlotte Brody, a lonely 17-year-old student at a new school, receives an invitation to join The League of Strays, she's intrigued by the group's promise of "instant friendship." The League does provide companionship--and even a love interest--but Charlotte grows increasingly uncomfortable with its sinister mission to seek revenge against the bullies of Kennedy High. When escalating acts of vengeance threaten to hurl her down a path of remorse, Charlotte must choose between her new friends and the direction of a future she's never fully considered.

When I read this synopsis I thought this would be an interesting read. After being approved for this title I read some reviews on Goodreads which weren't really positive. It didn't stop me from reading this book and I really thought I would like it. But there were some points that made me like the book less.

First of all the main character, Charlotte Brody. She just moved to a new school and hasn't made any friends. Her biggest bully moved to the same school (talking of coincidence) and she blames her for all the bad things in her life. When Charlotte receives a note with a time and date for a meeting of The League of Strays she jumps at it. And there she lost me. Who goes to such a meeting while you're bullied your entire life? That's just asking for trouble. And the naivety of the protagonist didn't stop there. The leader of the group makes them do all kind of horrible things to other people. The whole story she wonders if what she's doing is the right thing. After a while I wanted to smack her, tell her to shut up and take her own advice: leave that creepy group!

The idea behind the book is nice. There are to many kids out there who are being bullied. And I think that every single one of them dreams about getting even with their bullies. But is this the way? I think not. The ending made up a lot of all the things that happened in the book and I kinda started to like Charlotte.

At first I gave the story only 2 stars, but after thinking about it for a while I decided to give it 3 stars. Mainly because of the idea behind the book and the ending. Those two make up a lot. Maybe if you're bullied yourself you can relate a bit more. I had a hard time with it. I would've liked it if the ending was more prominent in the book and had come sooner.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

With the days getting shorter and the air getting all crispy again, fall is really here! It's time for reading a lot of books, tea or hot chocolate, on the couch, with or without a blanket. I can't wait! I was looking forward to joining my first reading challenge for a while now and Fall into Reading 2012 hosted by Callapidder Days looks like my kind of challenge!

Essentially, Fall Into Reading 2012 is a fun, low-pressure reading challenge open to anyone and everyone. It will take place September 22nd-December 21st (which, as you may have guessed, lines up with the fall of 2012).

To participate, here’s what you need to do:

Create a list of books you’d like to read or finish this fall.This is the only real requirement for participating in the challenge.

Feel free to set some additional reading goals (such as reading to your kids two hours per week, getting through your pile of magazines, etc.). However, this is not required; setting additional goals iscompletely optional.

Write a blog post that includes the list of books you want to read (and any additional goals you’ve set), and get ready to post it on your blog on September 22nd.

Visit Callapidder Days on September 22nd to sign up for the challenge. I’ll have an official launch post up that morning, complete with an area for you to submit a link to your personal Fall Into Reading post, where it will be added to the master list of participants.

Read! Work on your goals throughout Fall 2012.

Report your results. Write another blog post in December to let everyone know how you did. (I’ll post an official wrap-up to the challenge on December 22nd, where you’ll be able to share your results.)

Have fun! Visit other participants to see what they’re reading. Write reviews if you’re so inclined. But most of all, enjoy your fall reading!

The real challenge for me this fall is to lower my existing TBR pile. I keep buying books, so it grows all the time and I want to change that! It's almost sad seeing all those books just collecting dust and every time I see them I think I really want to read them, but I pick another book every time... And keep buying more. So here's my challenge list, most books I already own and I've put some books on there I REALLY want to have: (in no particular order)

Eve and Adamby Katherine Applegate & Michael Grant

What's Left of Meby Kat Zhang

Obsidianby Jennifer L. Armentrout

Easyby Tammara Webber

Cinderby Marissa Meyer

The Rise of Nineby Pittacus Lore

Paranormalcyby Kiersten White

Tempestby Julie Cross

Sparkby Amy Kathleen Ryan

Abandon by Meg Cabot

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Bitten by Kelly Armstrong

Broken by A.E. Rought

Dance of Shadows by Yelena Black

Dearly, Beloved by Lia Habel

Die For Me by Amy Plum

Enshadowed by Kelly Creagh

The Goddess Test by Aimée Carter

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Hidden by Sophie Jordan

Hourglass by Myra McEntire

Immortal City by Scott Speer

Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer

Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

The Lying Game by Sara Shepard

The Violet Fox by Clare C. Marshall

Lies by Michael Grant

Eve by Anna Carey

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Partials by Dan Wells

Defiance by C.J. Redwine

Breathe by Sarah Crossan

With 13 weeks of fall, I have to read approximately 3 books a week! I should be able to do that! But it wouldn't be fun if it's at least a bit challenging!Happy Reading!

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Bloggers share what new books (physical or virtual) they got these week. This is the first week that I'm participating! I like getting new books and showing them. So here's my haul for this week! My TBR pile is so high I put myself on a book buying ban. I ordered this book a couple of weeks ago and I got it in the mail today. I'm so happy with it and I can't wait to read, although that my take a while... I only put the books here I actually laid my hands on, but I made a little dance today after winning Defiance. I'll probably have it in the mail next week, but I want to shout out a big thank you to Atom!

Bought

Swag

This week Vrees Me (Dutch version of Shatter Me) was published and the editor gave me these beautiful carts and book mark. I think they're really pretty! On the carts are quotes from the book and I love the eye from the cover on the book mark!

Friday, September 21, 2012

I always get really excited when I see a beautiful cover, especially when the book isn't published yet. It's makes the waiting a little bit better! This week three covers were revealed! I can't wait to read these books!

My favorite is definitely Opal. I love Daemons eyes, they bring so much tension in the cover. If I see this in a book store, I would pick it up!

I like the other covers in the Revenants series better. Now that I'm blogging I don't pick my books on covers anymore, but I just to, since it was the first thing I would see of a new book. This cover doesn't look like a Young Adult cover to me, but maybe I'm just crazy! I will read it anyway :).

I'm so excited there's going to be a Firelight novella! I love this series! I like the cover. It's simple, but strong. And very different from the rest of the series.

The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the mores of an antique era. Sixteen-year-old Nora Dearly is far more interested in her country’s political unrest than in silly debutante balls. But the death of her beloved parents leaves Nora at the mercy of a social-climbing aunt who plans to marry off her niece for money. To Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses. Now she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting a fatal virus that raises the dead. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and thoroughly deceased. But like the rest of his special undead unit, Bram has been enabled by luck and modern science to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.

When this book was published almost a year ago I'd heard about it, but it sounded a bit freaky to me. A human girl falling in love with a zombie a.k.a. dead guy? Yeah... No, thank you. I wasn't blogging back then and I might have read one or two reviews, but they didn't convince me to pick it up. A couple of weeks ago I saw the sequel up on Netgalley. I was more intrigued by that synopsis and decided to request it and got approved! I bought Dearly, Departed, started reading and fell in love! This book is amazing!

I was still a bit weirded out by the zombie romance, but if you think about it: what's better about a vampire? OK, they're really beautiful, where the zombies are losing all kind of body parts, rotting and all. But they both want to eat you, so...

In this series there are two types of zombies, the brainless ones and the ones with a working brain. That's all got to do with the time they've been dead. Bram is one of the latter. He didn't even notice he had died, so his brain is completely intact and working. Nora's father has invented a vaccine to keep their bodies from decomposing, so Bram still looks quite alive. Apart from his skin being very cold and off color. This book is told from different point of views. My favorite ones were Nora and Bram. Their relationship has a slow start (which is very positive). Nora has to get used being around all those zombies. Bram locks her into his room, giving her the key. This way he wants to win her trust. And I thought it was just so sweet! They grow towards each other and in the end I wasn't surprised Nora likes Bram. He's a pretty sweet guy. Other fragments are told from Pamela's perspective, Nora's best friend. In the beginning I thought these parts were a bit dull, but it got better towards the ending! I loved Bram. I thought about zombies before reading this book, but the idea I had was luckily very wrong. Bram knows is short comings. He knows he can't get angry because that's what wakes up the 'zombie' inside him and he starts attacking people. He really cares about Nora and wants to look after her. The zombie part still freaked me out a bit, but otherwise I would've chosen him as my new book boyfriend!The setting is 2195, but the government chose the Victorian period as an example for their society. Sometimes I was so confused. Some things felt out dated, women can't wear trousers, they can't walk alone on the street and so on. I really had to remind myself that it was a dystopian novel. Not that it really matters, because the story remains amazing! Set in the future or the past!The story is well paced and full of tension. Lia Habel's writing style is absolutely wonderful! It has some very funny parts and that's what makes this story a very nice read. I can't wait to read Dearly, Beloved!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Breathe by Sarah Crossan

Title: Breathe

Author: Sarah Crossan

Will be published on: October 2nd, 2012 (Greenwillow)

Pages: 400Series: Breathe #1

Synopsis from Goodreads: Inhale. Exhale. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe . . .The world is dead. The survivors live under the protection of Breathe, the corporation that found a way to manufacture oxygen-rich air.Alinahas been stealing for a long time. She's a little jittery, but not terrified. All she knows is that she's never been caught before. If she's careful, it'll be easy. If she's careful.Quinnshould be worried about Alina and a bit afraid for himself, too, but even though this is dangerous, it's also the most interesting thing to happen to him in ages. It isn't every day that the girl of your dreams asks you to rescue her.Beawants to tell him that none of this is fair; they'd planned a trip together, the two of them, and she'd hoped he'd discover her out here, not another girl.And as they walk into the Outlands with two days' worth of oxygen in their tanks, everything they believe will be shattered. Will they be able to make it back? Will they want to?

Through blogging I've discovered some amazing books and I love the books that sound original! After reading this synopsis I can't wait to read this book!

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created by The Broke and the Bookish. Every Tuesday has another topic and different bloggers give their top ten. I love making lists, so here's mine for this week!

This week topic is

Top Ten Bookish People I Want To Meet

When I first saw this topic I was a bit afraid I wouldn't be able to think of ten people. But it was a lot easier than I thought! I decided to go for people who still live, because otherwise this list would be almost endless!

Leave me your links! I'm curious what you chose!

Authors

J.K. RowlingHarry Potter is one of my all time favorite series. I've reread it up to seven times (HP 1-4). I just can't get enough of it! I would love to talk to J.K. Rowling about this series. Mary HoffmanI love Italia! The country, the cities, the culture, the food, the language, everything! The Stravaganza series is set in Talia, a country that looks like our Italia. And I love this series and I would really like to talk to Mary Hoffman about it!Sophie KinsellaMy favorite Chick Lit author. The first question I would ask her: what's the secret to your success?Brigid KemmererMy new favorite series! (I know a lot of favorites today ;)). Her books are full of tensions, funny moments and hot guys! It's amazing! I would love to know where she gets her inspiration!

Bloggers

Lili from Lili's ReflectionsLili gives amazing recommendations. I've only spoken to her via twitter, but I would love to talk to her in person, about books of course! I love her new blog design!Amber from Books of AmberI love her blog! She's my biggest example in the blogging community! in my eyes she's pretty much an expert in blogging and I would love to talk to her about it!Jessica from Chick Lit Teens

Chick Lit Teens was the first blog I started following and it was one of the reasons I first thought about starting my own blog.

Publishing houses

Designers from Harper Teen

The covers from Harper Teen are always so beautiful! I'd love to know how they design these covers and where they get their inspiration!

Editors from McMillanAfter being an intern at a Dutch publishing house for seven months I know how books are made. I know publishing is different from publisher to publisher and from country to country and I'm interested in their approach. I love their books!Wiebe Buddingh'A lot of people will think: who? Wiebe Buddingh' is the Dutch translator of the Harry Potter series. I've always been interested in translations and how translators approach original texts. But Harry Potter is special, because of all the names. Hermione for example became Hermelien. The reason is that Hermione wouldn't be pronounced correctly by Dutch kids, but why Hermelien? Almost all the names have been changed and I'd love to hear why and how he did it!

Followers

Reading challenges

Favorite quote

About Me

Hi, I'm Helene, a 24 year old girl living in The Netherlands. My current passion is Social Media, but I also love to read and living a healthy lifestyle, which includes lots of veggies and working out! I am a big fan of Blogilates and running. My latest obsessions include: Pinterest and green smoothies.